Trapped
by Little Storm 97
Summary: Sarah was a regular, tormented girl with the usual problems but everything changed when she encountered something she shouldn't have seen. Leading her to a world she never wanted to be part of. Short-fic. Hope you like it. Next Chapter: August?.
1. Chapter 1 The girl

**Trapped a John Wick fanfiction**

 **By Little Storm 97**

 **Chapter 1 The girl**

Sarah was a regular, tormented girl.

Abusing stepfather, indifferent mother, bullies on school, not even the losers wanted to be her friends, and the teachers wouldn't do a thing or believe anything she said. Her life pretty much sucked. But she didn't have the courage to run away, although she had already her things packed because she could always be returned to her house.

Basically, she was on her own and she rather be out of her house as much as she could. That's how she ended up on the streets.

And how she saw things she didn't think possible.

* * *

Sarah liked just to take long walks and hear what people said. Especially the story-telling of the homeless. She heard stories so incredible that she told them that they could publish a book with them if they wanted. The homeless smiled at her and told her that no one would like to hear their stories. And she could see why. Their stories were about how there were assassins at every corner, how the big crime families had everything controlled, and how there was nothing in this world but cold and cynical pain.

But that was why Sarah liked those stories. She could appreciate how truthful they were, granted, maybe it could be a little exaggerated but she knew that there was some truth on them. People that seemed completely normal could be real monsters… like her stepfather.

The stories that she liked the most were about a certain Baba Yaga. A man that had been on the top of the "Assassins world" that had left everything behind because of love. She thought that his was the most unrealistic story of all, it couldn't be possible that a man like that existed. So, she consoled herself with his stories, because it gave her hope that she would get out of her situation, just like he did.

Although she never fully believed that.

* * *

Sarah had been on the streets for three months, the homeless men and women were nice to her and she felt safer than in her own house. She had helped them, going to grocery stores and buying things for them when they got kicked out and stuff like that.

She had even managed to make her first friend, a woman -around the same age of her mom, named Valentina. She always let her buy something of food with the money people had given to her, and she worried about her when she came with bruises from the bullies and her stepfather.

It was around six o'clock and soon, she had to return to home, Valentina was always very insistent that she shouldn't have been alone on the streets very late. When Sarah had asked why, her friend looked at her, serious and grave, her stare lost in the horizon as if looking for an old foe, smiled and answered her that she shouldn't worry about it _._

Sarah didn't understand why the sudden but just looking the shadows on her face was enough to send chills through her spine and to get away running.

On her way home, she just could see how the shadows seemed larger and could feel that something had changed. She had known it, that there was something obscure in the streets, something scarier than hunger or despair.

She wished she could just stay on her house but she'd rather take a chance of encountering those monsters than being more than it was necessary with her stepfather.

That's how she found herself in middle of Hell.

Valentina had asked her to do one more trip to the grocery store to get some chips and water, and against her own judgment, she went there even though it was near six. She thought she could do it.

How wrong she was, it wasn't just another walk to the grocery. Usually, if she heard a strange sound she would continue her way, -Valentina had told her to do so. But this time, when she passed by a dark alley, she couldn't ignore the scream and the three small, consecutive and funny noises that didn't quite match the serious atmosphere.

Sarah was a curious person and even though it was just a peek, she couldn't unseen the scene in front of her.

A man was standing calmly in front of the dead body of a woman, a pool of blood was starting to cover the ground, and a homeless guy approached him. Sarah wanted to warn him, most of the homeless were drugged or drunk at night, the chances were that he didn't recognize the scene in front of him, maybe he would get himself killed.

But none of that happened. Instead, the homeless guy greeted and chat with the killer, like there wasn't a corpse in front of them. Then the homeless guy took out a cellphone and dialed a number. It was a silent night and Sarah could pick up some of the words as she wasn't that far away from the two men.

"…Cleaning team, no, just one. In the alley, next to Antonio's grocery, yes, just one…"

Sarah froze. Were more going to come? She needed to get out of there. She started to abandon her hiding spot, a trash can that blocked her out of their sight when a cat jumped out of a carton box and startled her… And she screamed.

Suddenly, the eyes of the two strangers were fixed on her and she couldn't move until the homeless guy said to the people on his phone.

"Make it two, we have a loose end."

Sarah ran without a plan. Apparently, the killer wasn't preoccupied that she would get away, she could feel him following her, but he didn't rush, he was utterly confident that he would catch… and kill her.

After a minute of running senselessly, she had an idea. Valentina, she could help her. Sarah started to take every secret shortcut that she could remember and reached out Valentina.

There were no homeless with her, she smiled when she saw her approaching.

"Sarah! Good to see you, where are the chips?" She asked and then frowned as if a terrible thing had happened, and it had but she couldn't know that, could she? "Oh, no."

"Valentina! I saw a woman, she was dead and there were these two guys and now one of them is chasing me! I think he wants to kill me!"

"You are the loose end."

Sarah felt how pure and frenetic panic took control of her whole body. This couldn't be true. Valentina couldn't be one of them! Was she going to kill her?

"Here, stay put and don't move until I tell you to do so." She said and pushed her into a carton box and covered it with old, dirty blankets, Sarah couldn't breathe by her mouth and didn't had the strength to protest. Thus, she just sat there and started to cry, scared to the bones.

The time passed but she couldn't tell how much. She just stayed put until her legs went numb and the smell of the blankets didn't bother her that much anymore. She even started to fall asleep.

That's when Valentina took her out of the box. She seemed so serious and little scared before talking to her.

"I distracted them, they ain't going to find you for now, but you need to get the hell out of here. Luckily for you, they didn't get a good look to your face, so you have a better chance to scape. You can't wait to turn eighteen to run from your house, you got it? You have to leave now and never come back." She sighed.

"But, Valentina, I can't… where am I going to go?" Sarah asked.

"I don't know and I can't know, if they found out I helped you they will force me to reveal your location, so don't tell me and just run as far as you can and don't trust anyone, we're everywhere, and even the police is on our pockets." Sarah didn't move and Valentina's face twisted into a ruthless smirk. "NOW, YOU STUPID GIRL!"

Once again, Sarah run to never come back.

* * *

There wasn't a reason why she should go to her house. The things that she had packed to run away weren't there but in her secret spot.

Her house was in a very secluded area, the closest neighbor was about half mile of distance. That's why no one ever could backup her stories of abuse, there was no one who could listen.

Anyway, it wasn't the time to think about it. She needed to get to her hiding spot and get the hell out of there. In three weeks, she would be eighteen. If she managed not to get caught in those three weeks, there was no way she would go back to Philly.

Sarah was very lucky, she cut her hair and bought a low quality kinky costume that included a long red-hair wig with the money she had stolen from her stepfather for the past years. She had no interest in the nurse part, but she could really use the wig. According to Valentina, they didn't have an accurate description of her so the more she altered her appearance the less chances were that they recognized her. Maybe with enough time, they would forget her, after all, she was no one of much consequence… or so she hoped.

Sarah had managed to get to the Pocono Mountains, the town near them was small, and that was a problem. People of small towns had long memories for outsiders and the least she wanted to do was to be remembered. It had only been two and a half weeks and she was quickly running out of money. She had to do something, find a small job and earn some money or steal… But that would happen when she reached the town. She could always just go to a convenience store and buy something edible until she turned eighteen in four more days. Then she could get a job without them calling her parents or something like that. The question was, could she survive another four days without having a ceiling over her head, in the cold mountains?

It wasn't the time to think something like that, she needed to believe that she could do it. She didn't want to die like that, just because she wasn't strong enough. But she was so tired, and hungry, she had been walking all the way from Philly to the Mountains and barely sleeping, since the last week she had resolved to eat just two times a day the cheapest thing she could find in the stores. And all that was starting to take its toll on her. She was exhausted, and she couldn't take another step. So, she stopped.

She decided not to enter to the town, and consulted the map that she bought. She was not that far away from it, but right now she just wanted to be alone and be miserable. She wandered into the woods until she found a nice, humid cave. She took the blanket out of her backpack and spread it on the floor, she used her jacket to cover herself and her backpack as a pillow.

Sarah was so damn tired that she fell asleep right away.

* * *

It was strange. She woke up about an hour later and found her way into the town, and she realized that she had counted the days bad. Her birthday was that day. She was of age, a large smile spread across her face and she didn't know why. It wasn't like now all her problems where gone but… It was a relief, now there was no way she was going to Philly. She had always been afraid that some Child Services Agent would track her and brought her back to her home… or worst, to put her into a foster care. Now, she realized it had been a foolish fear, even if they had managed to do so she would have run away again.

Now she was legal. She used the restroom of the gas station to clean herself up a little bit, just enough that they wouldn't throw her out of the store by thinking she was a homeless girl. Maybe she could even ask for a job, save enough money and jump to the next state.

"Good morning," she said to the men assisting her. He looked about forty years old and had an unnerving smile, Sarah thought he may had have five cups of black coffee to put that smile on based on the large black bags under his eyes.

"Good morning, yourself Miss."

"I was wondering if there was a place where help is wanted that doesn't requires previous experience around here."

The man's smile faltered.

"Unfortunately, right now there isn't," he answered and after looking at her ratted attire added, "but tomorrow the boy of the night shift will quit, if you are interested."

"Oh well, thank you." She put her things on the counter and he started to check the items.

At some point, the man threw her a weird glance and before he finished checking the items he turned back and searched for something behind the counter. Sarah tensed, was he one of _them?_ Did he have a gun? But no, he pulled out a soap, a little shampoo, some Band-Aids, a white bandage and a little bottle of alcohol.

"That cut looks nasty, you should go to the doctor, but I suppose you don't have enough money, take that and patch yourself."

Sarah looked at the things that he had handed to her, and gazed to her arm. She had a long gash on her right forearm from two days ago, when she jumped from a bench with metal cables and her backpack got stuck on them. The man couldn't see it complete because she had a long sleeve shirt but yes, it was a nasty one. She was lucky it hadn't got infected yet.

"Thanks, but I don't have enough money for everything…"

"Don't worry about it, I'll pay, just take care of yourself Miss."

Sarah could feel her chest swell with the purest gratitude that she had felt in all her life.

"Thank you." She said, and she meant every piece of it.

The man smiled, this time it seemed genuine.

"You're welcome."

Sarah got out of the gas station and started to head back to the lovely cave she found last time. She felt lighter, and during her walk, she started to sing.

At first, it had been just in her head, her favorite songs started playing in her head. Her own private radio. Then she started to hum softly, it was a long walk, about half hour or so, and she noticed how beautiful the trees were, how exquisite their smell was. Without noticing it, she sang. Maybe it was awfully inappropriate in her situation but it felt so right for her.

 _Walking on a sunshine_ , _Zombie_ by The Cranberries, _A whole new world_ from Aladdin, _I don't wanna miss a thing_ by Aerosmith, _Carry on my wayward son_ by Kansas, _We're going down_ by Fall out boy, and so many other songs that didn't quite match together but that felt right to her, just burst out of her mouth. Quietly at first, and at the end, she stopped walking completely to do a whole pantomime of the songs. And she laughed in the middle of the forest.

Maybe she was going mad, because out of nowhere a dog appeared. Sarah had always toyed with the idea of having a dog, and when she went to the library she looked for books of them. That's how she recognized this dog as a Pitbull, a beautiful brown dog. It was running towards her, and instead of running Sarah bent down and received him with open arms.

"Hello there," she started talking to him to calm him down. "What's wrong handsome?"

As she pet him, she felt the dog was wet, she checked out what it was and her hand came out red. Sarah smelled her hand fearing the worst. She was right, it was blood, and she searched for any wounds on him but couldn't find anything. Therefore, there should be someone injured.

The dog barked at her and started running from where he had come, she followed him with dread spreading through her entire being. They were far away from any civilization and she probably wasn't going to be of any use, but she still had to try.

She sprinted after the dog and slowly, she noticed that they were headed to her cave. Really, what were the odds? She run for about two minutes, and there was the cave with her things inside, and probably a wounded person.

She was right, again. A man with a white formal shirt with a huge red stain on it. His face was covered in small cuts and he had one shoe missing. Surprisingly, he was conscious.

And aiming a gun at her. What a wonderful birthday.

* * *

 **Hello everyone, this is a short fic that has been on my head ever since I saw John Wick 2, so it will be set after the events of that movie. I hope you liked this first chapter, if you did or you have any constructive critisism please leave a comment! c:**

 **See you in the next chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2 The man

**Trapped a John Wick fanfiction**

 **By Little Storm 97**

 **Chapter 2 The man**

John Wick had had a hell of a week. After the hour that Winston had conceded him passed, he faced hell. John went with Dog to Aurelio's workshop and retrieved his car. With it, they went to what was left of John Wick's house. He took the briefcase that contained the other suit that he got in Rome, plus one gun with one charge.

It was all he had. He got into the car with Dog, and through the mirror he took one last glance to his house. He hated this. He hated everything that drove him to return, he just wanted a normal life. He just wanted to mourn Helen as she deserved.

He stopped at a store and bought a burnable phone –at some point he could need it-, a watch, a first aid kit, food for Dog and water. Then, he went to the bank, the normal one, mind you, in there he retired five grand and that was his last stop.

After that, he had just driven out of the city as fast as he could. He just had ten more minutes before everyone started going after him.

The hour had just passed and he had a plan. He just needed to make sure he stayed alive long enough to put it on track. He needed to get to Pennsylvania. The next state, and find his emergency cabin.

However, he was aware that it wouldn't be easy. Maybe on the rode he would have to leave his car, maybe even Dog, but he wouldn't let it happen until it was necessary.

As he had expected, not sooner than the time was up, they started to attack with everything they had. But he was Baba Yaga, and he was waiting for them.

It started with two bikers, a team for a long time, he deduced by the way they acted without even glancing at each other. That was good for him, it meant that they had a patron, and he was going to find it.

Predictably, they started shooting to the wheels, but apparently, Aurelio had done a better job that not even John had expected in just three days. However that didn't mean that the car was ready. The right door John suspected Aurelio had put the door at the last minute because it was hold by a chain, but at least the engine worked, he had the window glass and the wheels were reinforced with something that gave the assassins a hard time to flat them.

They realized it was useless to aim at the tires and so, they accelerate until they were at the level of the windows. Dog was barking at them and John had to improvise. He pushed the brake, put the window down and aimed for the assassin on his left hand. Two on his chest, and he fell of his motorcycle. John was sure he was no longer someone to worry about.

The second assassin came after him without hesitation. She -now he could see her curves-, had something like a holster for a large gun in her bike, and she was about to use it.

"Down!" He commanded to Dog just as she started shooting.

John hoped she wouldn't hit the fuel tank. He hit the accelerator with all his might and launched his car over and hit her. He knew this was just the beginning and that he wouldn't had a single moment of peace for a long time.

He tightened his grip on the steering wheel, so strong until his knuckles went white.

He just needed to be alive, he promised Helen he would live as long as he could; even though she wasn't with him anymore. And he intended to keep that promise, no matter what the costs were.

It had been three days since the contract was on, and he had slept barely thirty minutes. Normally, he wouldn't have blinked in a situation like this but five days ago, he had gone into a two-day murder spree and right now, he didn't have the strength to pull everything off. Plus, he hadn't eaten in a day. It was starting to take its toll on him.

Dog was still beside him, and he knew he had to ditch the car very soon. But not until he reached to border with Pennsylvania. From there he could walk to Pocono Mountains and find his supplies, then make his way towards Canada and find somewhere remote enough so they couldn't find him.

He heard the click of a charger, he rolled on the floor as a burst of bullets impacted where he had been.

"Dog, go attack them when you're ready."

He knew it was probably an insane action to have a dog as your backup, but then, his situation didn't let him have better.

Dog ran away, but he couldn't mind that much, he just kept shooting. Suddenly he heard a loud cry of pain and he took the opportunity. John came out of his cover and shoot, he killed the assassin. Dog came running, wailing his tail happily.

"Thank you, boy."

* * *

It had been a week since the contract started and he had already ditched his car. It was near the Pocono Mountains, so it wasn't a completely lost. However, someone had tracked him down, Clayton, an ex-coworker. They had shared some bourbon before, but now they were struggling against each other. A knife between them, in a forgotten cabin where John intended to rest for a moment. He wasn't lucky.

Clayton was stronger than him, John was sure that everyone was at this point. Still, he could handle him, and he did.

John let himself be pushed to the floor and just when Clayton came after him he pulled up his legs and pushed him over his head. Clayton hit the floor and John took the opportunity to stab him in the eye.

However, he didn't expect that Clayton would be working with Terrance. Thus, he didn't expect the shots. And he got hit. He flinched, it had been on his side, and probably it didn't hit anything vital.

John launched to grab Clayton's gun, it could probably still have a few charges, and took cover.

"Hi, John!" Terrance said, awfully cheerful. "I'm sorry to do this mate but, you know, business. I'll promise not to take too much time on you."

John could practically picture his goofy smile that could fool anyone. But Terrance wasn't goofy, he was the scum of them, no one wanted to work with him, he enjoyed long hunts and slow and messy deaths. If you wanted a quick job, he wasn't your guy, if you wanted the bastard to suffer Terrance would probably do it for free. John had never known him but he had seen and heard of him.

Dog wasn't near, John let him run and then got attacked, they got split. There was no way that Dog could save him this time. John breathed in and counted to three.

"C'mon mate," Terrance said. "I was expecting the great and infamous Baba Yaga, don't disappoint me."

John didn't plan to do so.

He was moving. Terrance didn't expect a movement so bold which gave him a slight advantage. He launched his fist to his stomach and didn't waste time, he grabbed his left hand and twisted it upwards. He heard the so comforting sound of bones breaking and a gun clinking onto the floor.

Then Terrance reacted and started to return the hits. And things started to get complicated. John wasn't in his best shape, he was tired, hungry, thirsty and injured, while Terrance was the complete opposite -aside his broken wrist. There were very few chances that he could survive this encounter.

Between the fist exchanges, the struggle on the ground and sharp pain on his side, he started to fade away and to think that he didn't matter anymore. All his movements were subconsciously as he thought: Why was he fighting for? Why didn't he let them kill him?

A punch on his stomach brought him back to reality. It wasn't the time to contemplate his existence, right now the only thing that he needed to do was to punch him back. And so, he did. He punched Terrance so hard that he stumbled backwards and crashed against the window. John saw an opportunity and went for it.

He broke his left leg, and slammed his arms together above his head with one arm, then he proceeded to use his left hand to smash Terrance's head against the window's glass. John shouldn't be able to perform that stunt, he shouldn't have the strength to do all that but he was acting out of sheer desperation, and he managed to do so.

Terrance's head broke the glass and in the process sliced his throat, possibly the aorta and John let him bleed to death. However, Terrance wasn't going to make it that easy for him, with his right leg he kicked him hard on his bullet wound and John flinched, tensed his jaw and tighten his grip against his neck.

Soon, Terrance stopped kicking and slumped. John let him go and backed off. He was starting to feel the blood lost, and needed to do something fast. He remembered that he heard an engine before Clayton entered, he searched his body for the keys and found them. He got out of the cabin and there it was, then he got to the trunk and got the emergency-kit that every assassin should carry.

John was on survival mode, he didn't remember exactly how he managed to find that cave, but he was certain that he wasn't being followed and that he could have a few moments of peace before anything came at his way. He sat on the floor as carefully as possible, the wound still hurt and now that he was somehow tranquil he started to think and retrace his steps.

In his condition he calculated that he was about one mile from the cabin where he left the bodies. He assessed his situation and without a problem he concluded that he had small odds of getting out of it. Even if he managed to patch up himself, escape infection he needed the car to get as far away as possible. Otherwise it was going to be a hunt in the woods. John hoped that at least Terrance and Clayton hadn't warned the others about his location, which was likely as they were loners.

He accommodated himself and got the bandage out, he was wincing in pain at every movement and Dog was preoccupated. He kept licking his face and John pushed him away, he didn't had time for that. Suddenly, Dog's ears stood up and left the cave running, John stood alert. In the stillness of the forest he could hear everything perfectly, for a few minutes he didn't hear a thing but then, very quietly he could identify Dog coming and another pattern of walking. Someone was coming. He left the bandage in the floor and prepared his gun, a few moments later Dog came and later someone entered his refuge.

The woman, no, the _girl_ in front of him was a mess. She had her honey eyes wide open, her hair looked worse than a bird's nest and she was thin beyond what was healthy. He could also tell she was exhausted and very frightened, she held her hands high but didn't drop the grocery bag she was carrying.

John eyed her suspiciously. She looked harmless and innocent. He didn't lower his gun. When he had been in Kazajastan he met a twelve-year-old girl that he was glad he had on his side. He even thought that if she survived she could be better than him. But she didn't.

He continued staring at the Threat, assessing her and didn't lowered his gun. She didn't try to escape, probably because of fear. His vision stated to faltered and he struggled to keep the gun up, he was so focused in the threat that he didn't noticed Dog until he barked. He looked at the brown dog that was wailing his tail by the Threat's side. John didn't have much strength within him and let his guard down. He trusted Dog and honestly, he didn't think that he could escape the Threat's if she wanted to kill him. John only hoped that he could die as peacefully as possible.

* * *

The gun clicked in the floor and the man looked unconscious. Now that she was more relaxed she could see that he had tried to patch himself up but didn't finished; he was probably trying to put on a bandage, he had his shirt almost completely opened and a white with red stains bandage was on the floor of the cave.

Sarah tried to convince herself that she shouldn't help him but between her Conscience and the whimpering of the dog she was kneeling before she noticed. She took the bandage and with shaky hands started to pass it through his thorax being very careful of not waking him up.

She didn't really know what she was doing, the dog was licking the men's face and she prayed that he didn't wake up and strangled her for helping him. Once she had finished she collapsed and stayed put. Suddenly she was exhausted and overwhelmed, her hands were covered in blood and she didn't know what to do next. The thoughts wouldn't connect properly in her head but for the first time in a while the dog stopped barking or whimpering and that helped.

Her eyes drifted once again to the man and, for the first time, she could see how pale and tired he was, and that his wound in the thorax wasn't the only one. Just what on Earth had happened to him?

A thought surfaced on her mind, could it be possible that _they_ were after him too? Could _they_ be near? Were they still looking for her?

Sarah trembled. What did they want? She didn't really saw anything of value and even if she did, she wasn't going to talk. Why were they so fixed on her? And just like that another thought stroke her. What if they had already forgotten about her but they were after _him_? She gazed at him a little longer and concluded that if she was found with him she would be killed no matter what.

She wasn't going to let that happen, she had been through so much already to die for association. Sarah stood up and took her grocery bag and the few belongings that she had on the cave and looked at them. The dog was laying down near his master and he didn't seem dangerous now, and it also looked that he wasn't going to wake anytime soon. She prepared to leave but in a last wild and crazy moment of consideration let her blanket near them.

As she left the cave Sarah wondered if that man was ever going to wake up. She certainly didn't care but she needed to put as much distance as possible between them before he woke up. Those were her thoughts as she wondered without direction or destination.

Sarah didn't know what was her best course of action, should she stay in the mountains and looked for another cave? Should she go down to town? Or was it better if she continued walking? How far could she go? Was she strong enough to continue? Sara stopped and looked around.

What was she doing? What was happening? She couldn't just run around desperately, she needed a plan. She hid behind an enormous rock and started to think. Her priority was to treat her wound, she could only be lucky a handful of times. It wasn't infected yet, she had taken care of it as best as she could the past days but now she needed to put a bandage on.

She took of her hoodie and exposed her arm to see how it was and then treated it. The wind started blowing and it was starting to get cold. She realized the big mistake she made when she left her blanket to the man.

Once again, Sarah wandered what she was going to do, there was the option to go down to the town and ask for help, and maybe she could go to a church or to the store… But then again, there was the possibility that _they_ were in the forest and that in her way to the town they would find and kill her. On the other hand if she stayed in the wild she could probably die of hypothermia. However there was another option, she could return to the cave, take the blanket and find another cave, she hadn't run _that_ far away and there was less chance to be discovered in her way to the cave than to the town, and the man was in bad shape, he probably was still unconscious.

Sarah made her decision, put her hoodie on and started walking as fast as she could, after all the more the time passed the more chances were that he would wake up.

* * *

John came back to consciousness after a while and was surprised to see that he wasn't dead yet and more importantly, to feel a slight pressure in his torso. He looked down and encountered the bandage, he didn't remembered putting it on and everything in his memory was fuzzy. Slowly he remembered the girl with the bird nest for hair and immediately declassified her as Threat. Somehow he got lucky and met an innocent civilian for once.

Dog licked his face and John pet him. That's how the blanket in the floor caught his attention and he smiled a little bit. Indeed, an innocent civilian.

"Fetch", he commanded Dog pointing to the blanket.

Dog obeyed and brought him the blanket, John covered themselves with the blanket and let himself to relax. He closed his eyes and thought of nothing in particular and focused in listening to the sounds of the forest.

He was falling asleep when Dog lifted his ears and stood alert, John grabbed the gun once again and watched the entrance of the cave as he heard the rumors of footsteps in the ground of the forest. Moments later the girl entered the cave again, nothing had changed except that this time John lowered his gun.

* * *

 ** _Hello guys! Thank you for the support for the first chapter to_** FairyMaster23, lilrose88 and the Guest ** _, I'm glad that you enjoyed it, I hope this chapter was also enjoyable and if you liked it please continue to moral support this little autor with your reviews, favorites and follows. Right now I'm working and studying so I can't promise constant updates to the story, however rest assured that I will finish it. Hope you have a great week!_**


	3. Chapter 3 Allies

**Chapter 3 Allies**

Sarah was nervous, but then again, she was beside _the man_ that had threatened her a few minutes before, so no one could really blame her. Although he had put down the gun and wasn't doing anything weird (if you didn't count the unnerving piercing look he kept giving her) she was still uncomfortable and without a clue of what to do next.

"So… how are you?" The most stupid question that could be asked was asked. When it was clear that he wasn't going to answer she continued. "I mean, your wounds. I did my best but, well, I didn't know what I was doing… is the bandage okay?"

The man nodded, progress.

"Sweet, then, we need to do something. You are injured, and I have no idea how to help you so, how about we take you to the hospital and…"

"No."

It was said with such authority and finality that Sarah immediately started thinking on a new plan.

"I could go to the store to get you something? Is there anyone that can help you? "He shook his head. "Right, then you should rest, and I will go tomorrow to the store. We should make a list of what do we need to treat your wounds."

Sarah paused and looked at him and what she saw wasn't good. He was barely awake and was very pale, she wasn't an expert, but she had the suspicion that he could die at any minute. What could she possibly do to make it better? Should she let him die? She took a deep breath and spoke with all the confidence she could muster in a situation like this.

"You won't last long if we don't get help and patch you up in some way. Help me out. If you don't want to go to the hospital and you don't want to die you must have some sort of plan. Or at least a better idea than mine."

The man just kept staring at her, Sarah didn't know if it was tiredness or simply a refusal to have an actual conversation like human beings.

"Do you have any more supplies?" She asked without expecting a full answer, and she was right, he nodded. "Where?"

"I ditched them." His first sentence, the words got out in a very hoarse voice.

"Excellent, I'll search for them, are they far from here?" He shook his head. "Was anyone following you?"

His stare turned more intense and he seemed to be evaluating her. He took his time to decide if she was worthy of such information or no.

"Not now."

Fantastic, that didn't tell her anything. What if there were more people after him and she found them? She needed more information and he was starting to irk her.

"Do you want to live or not?" She finally asked annoyed at the lack of emotion of the man. "Because I do and if I go out there for that kit I want it to be for a reason."

For a terrifying moment he seemed lost, but it passed so quickly that she wondered if she imagined it.

"Take the Dog."

Sarah let out the breath that she was holding and sprung to action. The more time she let pass, the more chances that someone would get closer to where they were.

"C'mon boy," she said, and the dog followed her.

"Should I go right or left?"

"East"

Right, then. She was sure she could manage it, after all she just needed to find the trail of blood till the first aid kit was on sight. Surely, she would return before it got dark. Sarah walked through the forest as fast and carefully as she could and kept an eye on the dog in case he got a sense of anything.

Surprisingly there wasn't a lot of blood, but it was enough to follow the trail easily. Apparently, the man got farther than she thought in his condition, she had been walking for about a mile. She had found the kit behind a tree and she was glad the sun was still up… And a big cabin appeared on her way.

Sarah stopped and hid when she noticed there was a car with the trunk open, maybe someone else was there. She waited ten minutes, but no one came out, it seemed safe to abandon her hiding place and approach the car, so she did. There were guns, knifes and a freaking assault rifle in there. She calmed herself down, telling herself that of course, the man had threatened her with a gun and was badly injured after all, it shouldn't surprise her.

However, she wasn't prepared for the two dead bodies that where inside the cabin.

* * *

John Wick closed his eyes, he needed to rest if he wanted to do a proper assessment to his condition. He was very careful not to fall deeply asleep, just to rest and focus his mind on the task ahead. Once he felt ready, he opened his eyes and stripped himself to inspect his injuries.

If the bullet got out of his body (which he didn't know because of the bandage) it wouldn't be as bad as he feared, he could even survive with first aid, a shit ton of water and painkillers. Bruises covered almost every part of his body, but he discarded the internal bleeding, otherwise he would already been death.

He dressed up again, trying not to move much and put the blanket on again, as he waited for the girl and Dog. He took his gun and checked how many rounds did he had left, unsurprisingly not enough. In his situation nothing was enough or good.

Sleep claimed him, and he fully rested, when he opened his eyes again the girl still was missing. He probably shouldn't have given her Dog, but then again it was probably for the best. He thought of what to do once (if) she arrived with the supplies.

First, they should treat his wounds. She could probably help him if he gave her instructions, the bandage that she put was decent, which indicated some sort of talent. After that, he should probably get out and steal a car to continue and leave the girl in peace. It didn't make much sense to plan after that, plans didn't survive that much, and he would have to improvise anyways. He listed all his secret stashes and draw the optimum route to all of them from his approximate location. When he was done he slept more, still no signs of her. John really hoped they hadn't killed her.

A blunt sound woke him up. The first thing he saw and felt was Dog's face and his breath, respectively. He petted him and tilted his head just so he could see her, he lowered the gun he instinctively aimed at her. She surprised him again.

"It was farther than I imagined," She said panting and looking tired. The emergency kit was in her right hand and another satchel was on her left, she put both on the floor. "I'll be right back."

And just like that he was alone again without further explanation. John reached for the kit and opened it. Terrance and Clayton were well equipped, they had the _good_ painkillers and almost everything he needed. The other satchel wasn't familiar to him, but before he could inspect it she returned. His brows rose just a bit, he tensed and had his gun aimed at her in seconds.

The honey-eyed girl had a rifle fund on her back and seemed annoyed at his actions.

"Really?" She asked, disbelief clear in her voice. "I just went wandering into the forest for the first aid kit for _you,_ searched the car and the cabin with _two_ dead men inside and _THIS_ is what I get?"

John internally admitted that she had a point. However, he couldn't lower his gun, every fiber of his being screamed that under no circumstance he should do so.

Sarah noticed the shift in his demeanor and dropped the attitude, put her hands up in the air just like a couple of hours before and spoke in a calm, soothing voice.

"I'm going to turn around, so you can see I don't have anything else on me, OK?" She didn't expect him to answer and turned slowly. "I'm going to put the case on the floor." She announced, he kept looking at her. Once she successfully dropped the case, she continued talking. "One more turn, I'm going to put my shirt slightly up, don't shoot."

Another turn and she hoped he would lower his gun. Seriously, the annoyance-induced bravado was fading, and she could feel a knot on her stomach as fear rose. He didn't lower his gun but gestured towards her feet. She kneeled slowly and raised her pants and gave another turn. She spoke as she did so.

"I covered the trail of blood when I came back, and I took as much things I could from the cabin and what I couldn't carry all the way here I hid along the way, so I could retrieve them later without going to the cabin again."

Sarah could swear he was impressed but couldn't be sure, she would be impressed at herself in that situation, though. The sun was setting and that made it harder to see his face and read his expressions… not that he had many to begin with. She needed to offer something more.

"In that satchel are all the knifes, ammunitions and hand guns the men had." She waited a little. "My name is Sarah, by the way. Could you lower the gun? Please? It makes me nervous."

Surprisingly, after processing her words he complied, and she relaxed.

"Thanks." She awkwardly said.

She sat down on the floor and took of her boots to rub her feet. It had been a long walk indeed. The man moved, and Sarah tensed until she saw he was removing his bandages. It seemed that the wound stopped bleeding although to her eyes it was still bad. She looked at him and he seemed unconcerned about it.

He started nursing himself slowly and efficiently, she hesitated to offer her help, he would probably choke her should she came close.

"Do you want help?" Sarah asked nonetheless.

The man assessed her and nodded. She approached him carefully and didn't make a move that he didn't approve. For the tenth time in ten minutes she asked herself, _Why I am even here?_

"Do you see any bullet hole on my back?" He asked with a hoarse voice.

With the help of a hand lamp she could see there was a small hole on his left side, it was approximately half an inch into his body, under the ribs. She informed him this and he nodded (such an expressive guy) and asked her to wash her hands. She used the bottle of water that she had left and faced him. He was biting down a piece of the blanket, Sarah knew the real job was about to begin.

* * *

Sarah woke the next morning and rubbed her eyes, something was lying by her side. It was the dog, he was warm and looked at her, stood up, stretched and licked her face as saying, "good morning". She petted him and smiled, a meter from her was the man still sleeping with the _good_ blanket.

Sarah stood and walked towards her backpack, trying no to wake him up as he would probably try to shoot her again. She searched for the trinkets the man from the store gave her yesterday and ate them quietly outside the food. The man was still asleep, Sarah was bored and decided to go to the town. As she walked out the cave the dog followed her.

"Stay!" She commanded in a whisper, the dog didn't look happy about it. "Stay here!"

She turned, and this time made her way to the town alone. It was still early, and she walked fast so she wouldn't encounter any more people than necessary. This time she avoided all homeless and, walked to the street where the store was hopefully she could start with her job right away.

"Hello?" She said when she entered.

A woman was behind the counter and eyed her with distrust.

"May I help you?"

"Yes, yesterday the man that works here told me that there would be an opening for a job and that I could take it." Sarah explained confidently.

"What was the man's name?"

"Glenn." Sarah said confidently as she recalled the name on the tag.

"Right, well the opening is for the night shift, but I think you could start learning now."

After the woman introduced herself as Paty, she explained to her everything, the work hours, payment, etc. She stopped when she took in her completely, made a face of disgust and said to her bluntly.

"You should clean yourself, use the bathroom, you'll scare the costumers."

After Paty left Sarah alone for twenty minutes and gave her a t-shirt of the store, the day turned out uneventful. Although she ate a hot dog, it was delicious and Paty's treat. At the end of the shift Paty surprised her and gave her a plastic bag with a bottle of water and some more of junk food.

"This will come off you pay so don't get too excited." She said gruffly.

Sarah smiled, said thanks and made her way towards the cave. She took a detour and grabbed one of the packages that she hid yesterday. When she arrived, the man was awake, and the dog received her wiggling his tail.

"Hey," she said. "How are you?" Again, no answer but she figured he was better by the way his eyes seemed clearer and more focused than the day before. "I see you're better, I brought this for you." She lifted the bag de shook it playfully. "I got this from my new work and thought that you needed it more than I do though it would be better if it wasn't junk food is the best I can do for now." She gave it to him, but he didn't take it. "Is there something wrong?"

"Eat it." He stated simply.

She opened the twinkys bag and took a small bite, she was trying to let him have as much as possible. He stared at her intently swallow the food (it seemed it was the only thing he could do). She looked at him confused, what was all that about? He extended his hand and took the food slowly and ate it still staring at her. As how it was now normal, the situation turned awkward and Sarah started babbling.

"They will pay me for week, I'm going to save for a bus ticket to the next city, I don't care which, and keep moving. Also, I brought another bag of the items I found in the car, apparently, they didn't eat or something, but they had water. I thought about going back and take the wheels or something, so we could sell it and have money… But it's a bad idea anyways, we will have to wait until the end of the week to buy a bus ticket or something. Also, you need new clothes, I only found a T-shirt and some pants, but you'll need also underwear…" She could feel herself blushing, this time she was sure he was amused. She cleared her throat and continued. "Even so, it's better than being covered in blood don't you think? And we must find another place to hide, your wound could get infected. Do you think you can walk if I find somewhere near?"

He nodded and for the longest time both remained silent.

"Does the dog have a name?" Sarah asked while she petted him and looked at the man, he shook his head. "Hum, I'll think of something, what's _your_ name?"

* * *

John woke up in the middle of the night, the girl -he refused to call her by her name- was in a deep sleep. He took advantage of that and inspected every bag she brought from the cabin, at the end of his inspection he knew there weren't any trackers in the items. By checking her belongings, he confirmed that she was a regular civilian. Now the only thing that worried him was that the belongings that she planted on the way had trackers, but he couldn't do anything about those for the time being.

He looked at the black lump that was the girl in the darkness. He was almost sure that she had nothing to do with the Assassins, however, she couldn't be completely innocent either. After all, she _had_ carried a rifle, looted corpses and hadn't faint when she saw his wounds. So, no, not a normal civilian but not an assassin either, and she couldn't be also a trainee because she would have been more skilled in her first aid.

What should he do with her? He wondered as he balanced a knife in his hand. She could be useful, she had proven to be smart to some extent and had stomach and good resilience. The only question that he needed to answer was, why was she on the run? He went back to sleep, there would be more time to figure everything out.

The girl's sounds woke him up again, he decided to pretend still being asleep. She didn't try to get near him, take any of the guns or killing him in general. He waited longer but she didn't seem to come back so he stood up and looked around. There wasn't a bomb or a device that could potentially kill him. Surely, she wasn't after the reward.

John started doing a quick assessment of his injuries, changed his bandage and forced himself to stan up and walk around the cave to train. He couldn't afford to be out of shape or sleeping around. Luck had been on his side this time, Terrance and Clayton were loners, so they probably didn't tell anyone that they had found him. Splitting the reward on two was enough for them, for sure. He needed to keep moving, the only thing stopping him was the girl and he was growing impatient.

He checked the time in the watch he still had and determined that he couldn't waste more time and the girl would be fine. Then, Dog stood alert, smelled the air and wiggled his tail. The girl was back. She carried two bags, one from the same store of the bag which she got the bandages last time. That was bad, people would remember her. As she spoke, things got worse.

She had gotten herself a _job_ and she planned in _staying_ there, at least for a week. That wouldn't do for him. Somehow between all her rambling she had the idea of taking care of the car, which wasn't bad, but he was glad she hadn't return to the cabin.

"..you'll need also underwear…" She said.

Was she real? Who cared for things like that in _this_ situation? He was somewhat amused by her flushing and attempt at keeping it "cool". He ate the twinky she offered him and kept assessing her. That would be the perfect opportunity to test her. He let her keep babbling.

"… what's _your_ name?" She asked looking at him intently.

"James." He said simply.

"Well, it's nice to meet you James." She said awkwardly, she paused and looked at him distrustfully. "Are you… being chased by _them_ too?"

It wasn't necessary to specify who _them_ were. John nodded, the girl went pale and stiff. They had something in common, they could work together.

"Why?" She asked and looked at the weapons spread thorough the cave's floor.

He decided to tell part of the truth, after all, she wasn't dumb. She had seen the corpses, the guns, his wounds, she wouldn't believe him if he told her he was a witness.

"I wanted out."

"Like Baba Yaga, right? When I was in the streets the homeless told me stories. I never thought they were real until…" She got lost on her thoughts and John knew she was, indeed, a loose end.

And a loose end that knew enough of their world to know his legend. Wrong place, wrong time.

"Anyway, we should help each other, don't you think?" She asked hopeful.

They regarded each other for a long time, taking in everything they say of each other. After a while, John nodded.

They established a plan. To Sarah's dismay, they would continue by foot after she worked a week in the store and bought enough supplies until the next town was near. She would also need to make a trip to the town to buy new clothes, specially for her. Sarah was now in charge of getting food supplies, ammunitions and medicines for the two of them and Champion -she had named the dog after all-, and for that she needed to look decent enough. As time passed she would need to disguise herself. When she asked where they would get the money he assured her it wasn't something they should worry about.

Sarah was astonished how much trust she put in this man who she just met and knew nothing about, that clearly could murder people. However, what other choices did she have? She needed to survive and so did he.

* * *

 **N/A: Thank you so much for the support! To the readers that had favorited, followed and commented this story, specially to** FairyMaster23, **who commented the last chapter. I hope you liked this one! See you in the next chapter! Happy new year!**


	4. Chapter 4 Gone

**Chapter 4 Gone**

It had been a week since she had started working at the convenience store, so it was pay time and now Sarah needed to put in action the next part of their plan: shopping.

Maybe she was exaggerating but she was nervous. What if someone recognized her? What if the neighbors were assassins in disguise? She shook her head and relaxed, it was unlikely that they would recognize her. Valentina's words came back to her: it was dark, and they didn't get a good look at her. She was safe.

Sarah continued walking until she finally found the garage sales. She stopped, took a deep breath and remembered all the things she needed to buy. Clothing for her and James, backpacks, ropes, blankets, Tupperware, soap and food for Dog. If she saw a sweater for him, she would also buy it. She chose baggy, comfy clothes, a pair of jeans and a T-Shirt. Two cloth changes for each one they didn't need anything else.

The woman at the garage sales was looking curiously at her but Sarah paid her no mind. It was natural to ogle a stranger. Just when she was about to pay for the stuff, she noticed a very nice pair of mountain boots out of the corner of her eye. She looked at the money she had left, it was just enough to buy her bus ticket and the provisions form the store.

One more time, her gaze wandered towards the boots they were snow proof and probably had cushion and goose feathers or something like that. They would come in hand, she counted the money she had and came to a decision, she would steal later.

After she paid the woman, Sarah left happily to buy the bus ticket. It didn't matter to which city or town, after all, she wasn't going to board it. James insisted to continue by foot and buying the ticket was just a diversion in case someone got curious and tried to follow her. Sarah admitted that it was a smart move although she lamented that they would go WALKING to the next emergency cabin.

However, she didn't have another choice, James was the one who could help her to survive long enough until they reached the cabin. AND he promised to give her money so she could buy herself a new identity to start over.

She kept thinking in all that, and how long it would take them to get there, after all, James didn't specify _where_ the cabin was. Sarah just hoped that he wouldn't kill her the moment he recovered.

* * *

John woke up, waited a moment to take in his surroundings, focused in his body and made a mental estimation of his physical state. He was ready to continue by foot to Canada. However, he needed to think through it, now he had company, how long were they going to stay together? How long he would be a liability and how long until _she,_ inexperienced as she was, would become a burden?

He stood up and started to stretch and to start his routine of exercises, there wasn't anything else to do more than that. Dog was resting placidly in the sun, suddenly he stood up and ran, and moments later the Girl appeared, a huge smile on her face as she petted Dog.

"Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy?" She kept asking while she rubbed Dog's tummy. "You are! You are!"

She continued for a while until John cleared his throat and she remembered that she needed to report her experience.

"I got everything that we needed," she started showing him what she got. "Well, not everything I still need to go to the store, it wasn't enough money."

"Why? It should have been enough." He asked.

The girl produced beaming proudly a pair of snow boots and gave them to him.

"One of your shoes is missing," the girl said shrugging her shoulders.

John stared at the pair of boots, then back at the girl and discovered pity, no, compassion in her eyes. When was the last time that someone had seen him like that? It didn't matter, not really, that didn't help him in any way. He gazed out the corner of his eyes at the Girl, she was playing with Dog. She was smiling peacefully, she felt his stare and looked back. He wasn't going to thank her, and she didn't expect him to, so she continued.

"I need to go to the store, I didn't get the food. You can catch me up down the road if you don't want to go in." She turned to Dog. "Stay!"

And with that she left them, John was still surprised by her actions, how different someone with innocence could be.

* * *

Sarah was nervous, she didn't want to steal the store, especially after they were so kind to her, but it needed to be done. She had no money left and she couldn't stay another day, James was very adamant on that from the beginning. Sighing, she opened the door to be greeted by Glenn with a smile.

"Hey Jude," he called her by her fake given name. "You came just in time, I need to step out for a minute, could you check out the store?"

"No problem." She nodded enthusiastically, the luck was on her side.

He went out and Sarah waited a few minutes before she grabbed her backpack and started taking provisions. Junk food was a majority although she took cheese and apples; James needed quality food to recover. Once she was done guilt started building up inside her, she went to the counter and left a note.

"I'm sorry, I can't pay for this. Thank you for helping me."

After that she closed the doors with the key, she didn't want anyone else stealing and went to the back door. She was about to leave when she heard that Glenn had returned, he was calling out for her and then, a loud noise, Glenn screamed, and Sarah ran to help him without thinking.

When she arrived at the storefront she reprimanded herself, she should have run away. Glenn was lying on the floor, eyes wide open with lingering desperation at the cord around his neck. An unknown man was standing over him, looking directly at her.

"Fuck."

She closed and tried to lock the door to protect herself but the man was fast, he managed to put his forearm in the way and now Sarah couldn't lock it. Frantically, she looked around for something that could help her, she knew the man was going to overpower if she didn't think fast enough. Using God-knows-what she smashed the man's hand, causing him to jerk away slightly. It was enough for Sarah to gain a momentarily upper hand and close the door.

Now, she searched for a weapon in the backpack, she was sure she had a knife or something there. The man was pushing the door, and she knew she didn't have enough time to rum between her backpack, he was going to get in there. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a bleach container, threw her backpack on the floor, spilling the contents and reaching for the bleach.

The man took down the door just like in the movies and was greeted by an avalanche of bleach to his face. He screamed, covered his eyes and winced in pain, Sarah took advantage and ran past the door to the front exit, Glenn's body was in her way, but she paid him no mind. The sheer desperation fueled her to the exit, she was going to make it. She could do it, she could run to James and he could take care of it.

A sharp pain came from her skull and with a horrible realization, she knew the man had grabbed her hair. She was pulled back with force and before she knew it, her back impacted with the counter, she gasped for air and looked up. The assassin was a tall Asian looking man, with the blackest eyes she had ever seen. His face was impassive, and she shuddered because she knew that all of this meant nothing to him. It probably was just an ordinary day, not even the bleach that she had thrown at him was enough to cause any other kind of reaction.

Sarah recoil with her hands and felt something on the floor. It was the man's "tool bag". It had a knife in it, she grabbed it with all her being and dashed into the candies section. He followed her closely and put her down without any effort. He tried to choke her, but Sarah had the knife and didn't want to die. She stabbed him in the neck, it was harder than she thought, and still, she managed to pull it out.

Blood started to blurt out of his body, and it splashed Sarah's face. The man tried to contain the bleeding with one hand, although both knew it was fruitless. He surprised her, with the strength he had left he tried to choke her with one hand. Sarah stabbed him again and again until he fell limp over her.

She couldn't move, she just stayed there for a while, looking at the white tiles on the ceiling. Wondering if she would ever be alright ever again, or if this new hollowness would haunt her forever.

* * *

It had been a while since the Girl had gone to get the last provisions, and it was going to break down soon, so John put on the boots, stood up and prepared to walk towards the agreed meeting point. He felt better, although he knew he was far from perfect he felt optimistic about his recovery, the pain was bearable now and they still had painkillers left. Although it really was a shame that they should leave most of the things the girl rescued from the cabin and form Clayton's car, it couldn't be helped. It would only slow them down. He stashed as many weapons and ammunition in his clothes as he could and then took the bag with the clothing, water, pain killers, bandages and knives. He also took the rifle and with that, he started moving.

Dog followed him obediently and from time to time ran off to pursue a rabbit or something. John let him be, after all, if he came back it would be fine, if he didn't it would also be fine. He arrived at the spot, the Girl had left more things hidden there, and those _she_ would carry. He had enough with the bags he had. After a while, he knew she was not coming soon so he left the bag and the rifle on the floor, closed his eyes and settled for a long wait.

It was dark and she still hadn't come. John started to get suspicious, right now he needed her to go on. In any other circumstance, he would already be gone, but something made him stood up and walk to the convenience store even though he was risking exposure.

The store looked calm from afar, he waited five minutes and when he was sure no one was going to come he entered. There was a dead man lying on the ground, and around there were signs of struggle. A door in the back was ajar, and John walked towards it. Splattered across the floor were the contains of the Girl's bag. The room stench with bleach but that wasn't important, he picked up everything from the floor and then, searched for her.

John found another body, a man with stab wounds and a pool of blood around him. John followed a trailed of blood made up by small hands and footprints at the end of the trail the Girl was hunched, hugging herself in a corner near the refrigerators. She was covered in blood, her eyes wide in disbelief, fear, and horror for what she had done. John didn't feel sorry for her, it was good for them. Now, he knew she could do anything to survive but more important was that _she_ knew.

He kneeled and approached her as slowly and calmly as he could.

"We must go." From his experience the first words directed to someone in shock hardly matter, they only served to grab attention.

The Girl tore her eyes from the ether and looked at him. John, unconsciously, inhaled sharply. He had never seen the eyes of someone who had killed for the first time. Her honey eyes were dull and unfocused, she feared herself. He cupped her hands, sticky with blood, squeezed them a bit and spoke with a voice that he hadn't used with anyone else but Helen.

"You did nothing wrong." The Girl stared at him some more and her eyes started to fill with tears, he could have none of that. "We must go." Down the road, they could clean her up.

Tears started spilling but she nodded, he helped her up and together they left the convenience store with the darkness of the midnight, they were gone.

* * *

 **Hello everybody! I know, I know, I put "May 2019" for the next actualization BUT it's early June so I count this as a win haha. I hope you liked this chapter even though it's a small one.**

 **Thank you for your support! Adding to favorites or following the story makes me very happy to see the notification.**

 **A huuuuuuge thank you and a cyber-hug to the people that reviewed the last chapter:** FairyMaster23, Ephemeralstylee, fandomhaha and FairyMaster23 (thank you for pushing me to finish this chapter :D).

 **I see you in the next chapter! Kudos to you :)**

 _Chapter 5 Symbiosis_


	5. Chapter 5 Symbiosis

**Chapter 5 Symbiosis**

It wasn't an easy task to travel across the Poccono Mountains in winter with barely the basics to survive. It didn't help the fact that there were two of them and a dog, and the last straw was pulled when one of them was more like a zombie than a functional human being.

Girl had been shaken by her first murder and he could understand it, albeit vaguely. However, the whole point for bringing her in was to help _him_ recover; now he was taking care of her. Regularly, he enjoyed when tables turned because it meant a new challenge had arisen, but this time John wished more than ever to have set a price to the car and stopped everything from spiraling down.

Because as skilled as he was, helping people wasn't his forte. In fact, when was the last time he took care of someone (in a good way) who wasn't Helen? Yet, there he was trying to feed an excuse of human being.

From time to time, Girl's eyes seemed to recover her usual sparkle but the next second it was gone. John could have none of that, and still, he wasn't sure how to help her. It had been a long time from his first assassination and the memory was so dull that he couldn't recall how he overcame it… or if he needed to at all.

As he looked at Girl's broken gaze, he realized that even though he had a broad set of skills, he was completely helpless in this situation.

* * *

Sarah wasn't sure what exactly happened later. She was clean now, but for some reason, she couldn't shake the feeling that her hands were sticky with blood. And every time that she looked down to them, she swore there were still some stains on them; which made her panic and breath shallow. After that, she would feel a weight on her left shoulder and barely registered James' voice as he helped her calm down. From time to time she would feel Dog beside her too.

At some point, she started to notice that they had moved a lot. The landscape was totally different now, although it was as cold as before. How much time passed? As she looked around it was clear that the sundown was near again, so at least a day had gone by. Dog walked beside her and James in front of them. He stopped, turned around and evaluated her.

"We'll sleep here." He said without inflection.

Sarah just nodded and cleared her throat, it seemed that she hadn't spoken in an eternity.

"What should I do?"

James seemed a little relieved at her words and told her to start setting the camp, he would go and find wood or something, she couldn't focus on what he was saying. Once Sarah was alone, she started to unpack things and tried to set the tent. She _did_ try but tears started clouding her vision, her hands trembled horribly, and she started to get out of breath. Heavy sobs left her mouth and she knew she wouldn't stop any time soon. And oh boy, she was right.

Fifteen minutes later John returned to find a hysterical girl and an unmade camp. He sighed lightly, left the wood on the floor and approached her. The dam was broken, and he could do nothing about it. He took the blankets next to her and left her alone, somehow, he knew she needed it.

After the camp was set and the moon was already up, shedding a gentle light over them, Girl stopped shuddering and sobbing. Tears still ran down her cheeks, but she seemed calmer and conscious of their surroundings. John gave her a bag of cookies, neither of them spoke a word as they ate their dinner and went to sleep. Both knew they were awake and waiting for the other to say something. Unsurprisingly, Girl started talking.

"I didn't want to kill him." Sarah finally said. "But… I didn't want to die either."

"I get it."

And he really did, just a week before he was sure he wanted to live at peace, remembering Helen and honoring her. But now, he was back in, fleeing from everything with a broken girl.

John would have none of that, he would help her to get out.

"You did nothing wrong." He repeated what he said two nights before as it was certain she didn't remember.

"Really?" She asked softly, but John knew she didn't believe him.

"You know, when I found those men in the cabin I screamed. I had to calm down by myself and I did, after a few minutes and when I was back to the cave and saw you there so… relaxed, so unaffected I thought if it happened to me…" Her voice cracked and she paused, the silence was heavy and dense.

"But I can't!" She tossed her blanket to one side, sat down and looked intensely at him. He imitated her.

"I… how do you do it? You seem fine, what… how.. when will I be fine? I don't want to feel like this!"

He looked questioningly at her.

"Like I'm tainted, dirty, horrible, scared! I don't know if I go to sleep and I'll see his face or feel his body over me, can I sleep after what I've done? What if…?"

"Stop." He interrupted her and waited until her eyes were focused on him and he was sure she wasn't rattling anymore. "Stop wandering, stop asking, it won't do any good. Just keep living and you'll find the way to handle it." She still seemed desperate, so against his best judgment he engaged more.

"Close your eyes."

Sarah looked at him questioningly before obeying him.

"Breathe deeply. Hold it. One, two, three, let it out. Repeat. One, two, three, out. One, two, three…"

Sarah continued with the exercise until she felt tired and sleepy, but tried to stay awake until he told her to stop. With every breath, it became more difficult to concentrate in his voice and it came to a point where she fell asleep sitting down. John took that as a signal and helped her to lay down while he kept counting for a while more until he was sure she was asleep. Dog laid beside her and finally he was able to get some sleep for his own. But not before asking himself what was he going to do with the train wreck that had become Girl.

* * *

The morning came and Sarah woke up in a jerk, looking around and finding James picking up the camp. Dog wailing his tail happily beside him. She was surprised at how crappy she felt. Her muscles ached, she was hungry, and in general, she felt drained. As if she had no energy left in her body. However, she was content with that because he couldn't remember if she had felt anything at all after… the incident, so she took it as a good sign when her stomach roared loudly James looked at her with an arched eyebrow and went to look for a pair of packed sausages in the backpack. It was a good thing that the weather wasn't hot right now or those provisions would've been useless by now. Sarah ate them gladly but knew that it was everything she was going to get, after all, they still had a long way by foot to the cabin. Sarah stood up and helped James to clear the place a little, so there wouldn't be a way to track them.

"Has Champion eaten yet?" She asked.

James nodded and without saying anything started walking. Sarah, of course, followed him…

They kept moving for hours and Sarah was getting tired and hungry but said nothing. It wouldn't do any good, so why to complain at all? At least that was what she thought the first five hours. At that moment, she reached her limit and felt very stupid and childish because she couldn't stop herself from saying:

"I'm hungry."

James didn't even tilt his head to look at her. She kept quiet for a few more steps until she heard her right knee make a weird noise in symphony with her stomach.

"Did you hear that?" Again, no response and they kept moving.

However, silence wasn't Sarah's forte and now that she wasn't a zombie it was blatantly obvious.

"Can we rest?"

James stopped and turned around, he seemed annoyed even though his face remained the same. He unceremoniously dropped the backpack and sat down on a rock. Sarah sighed in relief and did the same thing after a while she reached for a bottle of water and drank.

She looked at him but kept thinking about how it was possible that he could seem so unfazed and normal after walking by maybe five, six hours straight AND injured. Sarah nearly choked with the water, she had completely forgotten about that fact.

"Oh my God! How's your wound?" She asked concerned.

James had already pulled a gun and looked at her with reproach, she startled him. Slightly. He pulled it down.

"Fine."

"Let me check."

She quickly searched the emergency kit and so, she missed the slight pulling up of James' mouth corner.

"I checked it in the morning."

"Nonsense, you could've missed something."

By the look of it, James decided to give in and let her be of help, it would distract her from the incident. He took his shirt off and she adopted a critical look on her eyes. Once the bandage was gone, she palpated the surrounding area of his wound and checked the bruises' color progressions and the stitches. Obviously, he pulled stitches off but that wasn't surprising given their four-day-walk. There was also the fact that those weren't her stitches.

"Did you patched yourself?" Such a stupid question but she wasn't certain if she had helped him in those four days before, everything was so blurry.

He nodded not understanding why she suddenly looked so worried and angry. It wasn't a big deal. Except that it was because now Sarah realized how mind absent she had been. She hadn't even noticed him patching himself up! He probably yelled or made a sound and she didn't even register it. It couldn't happen again.

"James, don't you ever let me be like that."

He was taken aback by the force behind her words and the determination as sheer as steel.

"I need to be stronger so I won't become a burden, what would have happened if someone attacked us yesterday? We've been dead by now."

John didn't feel the need to point out that he would have left her behind, mainly because now, he wasn't sure he could do that so easily. He looked down to his boots for some reason.

"Can I ask you something?" She continued.

He knew she would ask anyway so he nodded.

"Would you train me?"

* * *

Oh dear, how Sarah wished she hadn't ask. Right now she was lying flat on the cold floor with pain in every part of her body.

"Up." James' voice rang in her ears.

He was ruthless and gave her a hard time at every "rest" they took. Apparently, he was very enthusiast about training. She tried to stand up but literally, her arms wouldn't obey her.

"I can't."

John would've kicked her up, however, they weren't in a proper training environment, so instead, he sighed and left her there.

It had been a week since she asked him training, they were covering the basis for self-defense, which included judo, some street tricks and basic knowledge of the human body's weak spots. She was scrawny and weak, still, at least they could practice step by step and, hopefully, when they were somewhere safe, she would gain weight and muscle.

Girl was still limp on the floor and John thought that maybe he was overdoing it. Her muscles needed some rest. Out of nowhere _she_ stood up violently and ran off a few meters before plumping down and empty all of her stomach's contents. Yes, she needed rest.

John decided they would camp there, after all, it was clear Girl couldn't move. She returned a few minutes later, dragging every fiber of her being to help set the Camp.

They worked quietly with the case of doing this more than a week non-stop. It had become part of their routine, although John wasn't used yet to seeing Dog with a big knit sweater. He wasn't the only one who got a present from Girl.

Usually, after dinner, Girl would go to sleep immediately and profoundly, the tiredness of her body stopped her from dreaming. This time, however, because John hadn't pushed her that far she still had energy left. Obviously, being Girl, she decided to talk with that spare energy.

"Thank you for helping me." She said and both kept quiet for a while. "How long until we get to the cabin?"

"Two days, maybe."

A whole two days. They retake their way and when the sun set, they camped and when to sleep. Sarah's mind was filled Would she be able to resist until then? Honestly, if she thought the pain of a week ago was intense, now she begged to go back and enjoyed not being utterly and completely exhausted. Every morning she thought it would be impossible to go on, nevertheless every day that passed she was more impressed by how much her body was able to take and go on. And honestly, she didn't complain because of three reasons: first, as sore and tired as she was, it was helping her to forget the incident; second, it was her idea that he beat the crap out of her and third, it was necessary that she learned something to defend herself or she would be a liability. Those were the reasons why she actually was grateful at James, he was making an effort of not leaving her behind.

"James," she continued, and he opened his eyes, the stars were bright that night. "Why are you running away?"

He took a brief, sharp intake of breath, she noticed.

"I broke the rules."

For Sarah that was enough, and her focus shifted to Valentina. Was she alright? What would happen to her if someone knew that she had helped a loose end? Looking at James, she figured out it wouldn't be that different for her. She hoped she was safe… or that she hadn't suffered much if she was gone already. Sarah wasn't very religious, but she sent a prayer for her wellbeing, after all, it was the only thing she could do now. Praying, she fell asleep.

Sarah dreamt that she was back in Philly, hidden between trash cans as someone got murder on a lonely ally. Suddenly, she was running, a man hot on her trail. It was a bad idea to look back, she knew it and still did it.

There were two men after her, one, for some reason, was blurry so Sarah couldn't make his factions. It was like he had a cloak of darkness over him. The second man was a completely different story, Sarah recognized him in an instant. He was covered in _his_ blood and his face was a perfect representation of the word "rage". It was the Asian man she killed days before.

She kept running and they kept getting closer. She tripped, fell and they were over her. Champion appeared and bit the blurry man, the Asian kicked the dog and shot him.

"No!" She screamed as she heard Champion's soft pain whimpers fade.

Tears poured out of her, and she knew, there was no escape. She braced herself, tighten her fists and closed her eyes. However, she felt safe and warm, her eyes opened almost on their own. James was kneeling in front of her, but it wasn't quite the James she knew, he seemed bigger and gentler even though he wasn't smiling.

Sarah remembered the men and tried to look for them, but James cupped her face firmly.

"Don't look back, keep forward."

She just nodded, surely somewhat stupidly. He helped her stand up and took an attack position.

"One."

She blocked his hit.

"Two."

Her attack flew beside his head and he put her down. She stayed down until Champion came and licked her face.

"Stop, stop!" She laughed.

"Up," James said and both obeyed. "We'll get out of this."

Sarah smiled.

"Of course, we will."

And together they kept walking.

AAAAAAAAAAA

Dog licked him awake, his gaze wiped the entire area and he saw nothing. However, Dog was still restless. It wasn't until he heard Girl's whimpers that he understood. John walked towards her and with the moonlight, he saw her usual calm and tired face contorted in pain, however, she wasn't screaming, her fists were balls and he knew it would leave marks.

He didn't want to wake her up, she would probably just scream and start crying. It wouldn't do any good, so he went back to his blanket, picked it up and settle beside Girl. He took her hand and held it on his own. With his thumb, he started rubbing circles on her palm until she relaxed. After a while, he fell asleep too.

The sun rose and so did John, Girl was still sleeping, and he let her be. He could take care of the camp and his wounds, after all she needed to rest. Once he finished, he went to take a light walk for recognition of the place. Everything looked normal and the path was as smooth as a path in a mountain could be. When he went back Girl was awake and a bit distraught, but she calmed down once she saw him.

Both took their bags, they were lighter as the food and water were consumed and continued walking.

Girl seemed better now, she was slow because of the soreness of her muscles but she kept walking and looked somewhat fresh. They stopped to rest, and Girl braced herself for the new training session, it was hilarious the resignation on her face.

"Today, I'll teach you about knives."

"Huh?"

He pulled knives out of the boots and started to explain to her how to know if it was balanced, how to take one correctly and how to throw them. But Sarah wasn't listening, she was back in the store, stabbing the man over and over again. John noted that and put away the knives.

"That's enough, now we'll continue with judo."

"What?"

In a second she was already on the floor and she was certain there would be a new bruise to add to the collection.

"You could've waited."

"You should've been ready."

Sarah glared at him but stood up and prepared for the next move.

They went on for half an hour before James called it quits and they continued their way.

A day later, they arrived at the cabin.

Sarah's just dropped, this was an _emergency_ cabin? Holy mother, sure being an assassin paid well. Still, it wasn't a career choice Sarah would consider ever.

"Is this your place?" She asked still amazed by the opulence of the cabin.

"A friend's."

"Huh, didn't know you had friends, Will he meet us here?"

"No, he's dead."

"…Sorry." James seemed to pay her no mind.

"What happened to him?"

"Killed."

Well, isn't it wonderful? Me and my big mouth.

"… I'm going to find a bathroom. I assume there's running water here?"

James shrugged.

"Okay, I'll figure it out."

With that, she ran through the house, she _needed_ a bathroom. She found one and she did a funny, silly dance of pure delight before entering. She opened the valve and water poured out. Cold. She shrugged and started to undress, it could be worse, and she was determined to enjoy the few moments of peace she could get.

* * *

 _ **Hello everyone! I hope you are all well, this chapter although it's a more tranquil one I enjoyed very much writing it so I hope you liked it c: Thank you for your support by following, adding to favorites or simply reading the story. Also a huge hug to StrangeEye, FairyMaster23, Ephemeralstyleee and Mad Hatter Massacre for reviewing the last chapter. It inspires me to keep going.**_

 _ **For the next chapter, I don't have a scheduled date, but if there's any change on that department you can check the summary in fanfiction. See you in the next one!**_

 _ **Chapter 6 Normal pacing**_


End file.
